2021 / Video
The Academy Awards acceptance speech that wrote itself. Was it demonic possession or simply delusions of grandeur? Either way, this acceptance speech churns up familiar terrain of self-adoration and self-loathing into a roiling frothy foam that we might call “the old razzle dazzle.” Bearing witness to all this glitz and glam are two old friends sitting on the couch, their eyes glued to the TV, wondering when they might spot themselves on the screen.
Pulling inspiration from Susan Stryker’s manifesto “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix” and from the film Beau Travail, this video project takes an Academy Awards acceptance speech as its setting and serves as an extension of my ongoing research into passing: passing for cis, passing for female, passing for a woman.
The piece considers: Where is power located in the act of passing? What does it mean to be a trans woman in public? Who tells me what I am? When will I get my Oscar?
Conversation between Cornelius and Silk about Lifetime Achievement (June 16, 2021)
Preliminary versions of Lifetime Achievement (for performance):
Work-in-progress showing at HIT Gallery in April 2019 video by Chani Bockwinkel
Work-in-progress showing at TV in Berlin for Clump curated by Colin Self and featured on ClumpTV Episode 6 video above
2021
Written, directed, and edited by Maria Silk (Silk Worm)
Starring Maria Silk (Silk Worm) and Matia Emsellem
Video shot by Chani Bockwinkel and Arlen Levy
Audio recorded by Wren Farrell
Styling by Alfredo Romero
“Pavane for a Dead Princess” recorded by Peekaboo
“Rhythm of the Night” composed and performed by Corona
Graphic design by Frankie Leasing
Photography by Mariah Tiffany
Special thanks to Matia Emsellem, Lydia Glenn-Murray, Cynthia Holloway, Mariah Tiffany, Florida Man, and Cornelius
Supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Jess Curtis/Gravity
2019
performer Matia Emsellem
sound Isiah Lerma
Maria Silk 